World Cup Predictor Plugin

Blog

  • Discussing new plugin features

    Discussing new plugin features

    The World Cup Predictor plugin was released in 2010. At the time, it met the needs of users (WordPress site managers) well and worked well in the version of WP available at the time.

    However, as time went by, WordPress grew and some of its features that were not included in the World Cup Predictor plugin began to emerge.

    One example is WordPress Multisite.

    Anyone who has used the World Cup Predictor plugin on their website knows that the administrative pages were created using its own standard, grouping the configuration options in Tabs within each section. We did this because when the plugin was released, we decided not to use post types, keeping all the plugin settings in separate tables from the ones that are essential for WordPress to work. This way, if you decide to remove the plugin from the site after the tournament is over, the tables are deleted without leaving any residue in your database.

    Many users like this and prefer the plugin to actually work this way. However, if we used post types, scalability would work better. There would be no more problems using the plugin on multisites and it could interact better with other plugins such as ACF or post type import/export plugins, for example.

    Another advantage would be that since it is a post type, managers will be able to have pages on their sites regarding those items. In the current version, we even have a Team URL option where you can save a URL that corresponds to a team (whether that URL is on your site or not), but a page for the team is not automatically created, for example, and displayed on your site for users to search for information. In terms of SEO, it might be interesting to make these pages available.

    In this case, there could also be Venues pages and even Matches, which could display the match summary or line-up predictions before the match starts.

    As for Stages, it would not be worth creating a post type for this. In fact, we intend to restructure this stage section in the next version of the plugin, as it does not cover all possible competition scenarios (in the 2025 São Paulo Championship, for example, teams from one group face teams from another group and we cannot save the games like this in the current version of the plugin).

    Another advantage of this change is the API issue. Because it uses separate tables, match data and predictions are not available natively in the WordPress API. For most website administrators this is not a problem, but we know that there are some applications that use the WordPress API and in these cases it is not possible to extend this information.

    In addition, many website managers often ask the plugin’s support for it to work automatically. In other words, managers no longer need to save match results when they are finished, but instead for this to happen automatically, already calculating the ranking. This functionality depends on an API to be implemented.

    Anyway, we are open to the possibility of making this, which would be the biggest change to the plugin since its release, but we would like to hear from you first so we can decide which direction we should take.

  • Plugin test event: Campeonato Paulista 2025

    Plugin test event: Campeonato Paulista 2025

    If you are interested in using the plugin during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, but would like to see it in action in some other tournament before then, we have good news: we will be using it to cover the 2025 Campeonato Paulista on the website bolaopaulista.com

    The website is entirely in Portuguese. This may be a barrier for some users who only speak English, but I believe the flow is very simple to understand and similar to that of all WordPress sites. Just register by providing your username and email, log in and access the predictions page to bet on the games in the first round.

    You will be competing for prizes just like all Bolão users, but the most important thing will be to see how the time limit for saving predictions works, how the ranking is calculated, how to consult predictions saved by other users (after the matches have started), and prediction statistics for each match.

    In short, this is a great opportunity to try out the plugin and perhaps suggest changes before the main competition starts in June. Enjoy!

  • How to configure the scoring system in the plugin

    One feature that users of the World Cup Predictor plugin have always praised is Configure Scoring, which allows managers to define their own scoring criteria that will be used to classify participants in the ranking.

    The plugin comes configured with some default values, where the maximum score received would be 12 points. However, I particularly like to configure it like this:

    Let’s explain:

    Assuming you have bet that the game will end 2×1 for team A. In this configuration, if the match actually ends 2×1 for team A, you would earn the following scores: 10 points for correct score + 4 points for team A’s goals (2) + 4 points for team B’s goals (1) + 7 points for correctly predicting the goal difference (+1 for team A), totaling 25 points.

    Continuing with the example, if the match ended 2×0, you would earn 8 points for correctly predicting the wrong score + 4 points for correctly predicting team A’s goals (2), totaling 12 points. If the match ended 3-1, you would also earn 12 points, since you would have guessed the goals of team B (1).

    If the match ended 1-0, 3-2 or with any score with a difference of 1 goal for team A, you would earn 8 points for guessing the wrong score + 7 points for guessing the goal difference, totaling 15 points.

    There would also be the possibility of guessing only the winner, without guessing the number of goals or goal difference, for example, if the match in question ended 3-0. In this case, you would only earn 8 points for the wrong score.

    It is worth noting that, even if you do not guess the winner of the match, you would still have a chance of winning the bonus if you guess the number of goals of one of the teams. For example, if the game had ended 2-3 or 1-1.

    As for bets on draws, there are fewer possibilities. Assuming you bet on 1×1 and the match actually ends 1×1, you would earn 9 points for guessing a draw + 4 points for guessing team A’s goals (1) + 4 points for guessing team B’s goals (1) + 7 points for goal difference (0), totaling 24 points. If the match ended in a draw with any other score (0x0, 2×2, 3×3…) you would only necessarily guess the draw (9 points) and goal difference (7 points), totaling 16 points.

    Therefore, the scoring possibilities would be:

    1) Predicting the winner with an exact score = 25 points
    1) Predicting the tie with an exact score = 24 points
    2) Predicting the tie and missing the number of goals scored by the teams = 16 points
    3) Predicting the winner and goal difference = 15 points
    4) Predicting the winner and goals scored by one of the teams = 12 points
    5) Predicting only the winner = 8 points
    6) Predicting only the goals scored by one of the teams = 4 points

    In the next version of the plugin, we have plans to expand this scoring system, allowing different scores to be assigned if the number of goals scored by the winning or losing team is correct, as well as assigning different weights to each round or stage of the tournament. We should test these new features in the next edition of the Brazilian Championship. Stay tuned!

  • New features of the World Cup Predictor plugin

    There are 5 months left until the start of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™. And we are working to provide users of our plugin with an even better experience than they have had in the last 15 years.

    If you have any suggestions for improvements, you can contribute at https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/world-cup-predictor/ and we will analyze whether or not it is possible to implement it.

    One of the suggestions we received in the last editions was to try to automate the plugin, that is, site managers would not need to save the results of the matches at the end of the games. This would happen automatically.

    To try to implement this functionality, we will create an API that can be consumed by all sites that have the plugin installed. We are developing this functionality and should carry out the first tests during the Brazilian Championship 2025.

    Some users have also requested that the plugin can be used on multisites, as well as to cover multiple tournaments. The way the plugin was structured in 2010 was designed to cover one competition at a time. To allow coverage of multiple competitions simultaneously, it would need to be a bit more complex and difficult to manage. In that case, we will probably release this feature in another, more robust version of the plugin.

    Anyway, we will publish the improvements in the coming weeks and we count on your feedback.

  • How to use the World Cup Predictor plugin

    World Cup Predictor is a plugin developed by Ian Haycox and Landoweb Programmer that allows WordPress site owners to offer their own prediction competition (also known as Bolão in Brazil) involving the matches of the World Cup.

    One of the main benefits of the plugin is its simplicity in use. Just install and activate the plugin and then access the Overview page (in the WCP Cup menu) in the admin panel to configure it. We have provided a Create Pages button, which automatically creates the 5 recommended pages for the plugin to operate: Predictions, Ranking, Group Tables, Predictions by Match and Predictions of User.

    All the plugin’s functionalities are generated from the shortcode world-cup-predictor. This shortcode accepts some parameters responsible for displaying the Prediction form, the ranking table, the group classification, among others. All options can be found in the Help section within the WCP Cup menu, but as previously mentioned, when you click on the Create Pages button, the pages will already be created including their respective shortcodes.

    Once the prediction form has been created, any user logged into the site will be able to save their predictions for the games. These predictions can be modified at will until the start of the matches (there is a countdown on the predictions page indicating how much time is left until the matches start). After the matches have taken place, users will earn points according to the accuracy of their predictions. By default, we award 10 points for correct predictions, 4 points for predicting draws, 6 points for predicting the winner of the games, 1 point for predicting the correct number of goals for one of the teams and 0 points for predicting the goal difference. However, site administrators have complete freedom to configure the scoring as they prefer. Simply access the Predictions section (in WCP Cup) and go to the Configure Scoring tab.

    Finally, World Cup Predictor is a plugin with over 24 thousand downloads, tested and approved since the 2010 World Cup. It is currently in version 1.9.7, providing coverage of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, which will be played in June. We will still implement some improvements to the plugin before the start of the tournament. If you have any suggestions, you can contact us through support: https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/world-cup-predictor/

    We hope you have fun with our plugin!